LETTERS; Catholics and Politics

Published: November 15, 2008

To the Editor:

Re ''U.S. Bishops Urged to Challenge Obama'' (news article, Nov. 11):

What moved very many American bishops to silence or to moderation during the recent election cycle was no doubt prudence and good judgment. Certain other statements, particularly those concerning abortion, amounted to de facto endorsements of Senator John McCain. Some of these clearly crossed the line separating church and state and under normal circumstances could have imperiled the tax-free status of the archdiocese in question.

Let us hope that if ''Faithful Citizenship,'' the guide for Catholic voters, is indeed revised, it will reflect the intellectual diversity and the range of theological opinion that now characterize the Conference of Catholic Bishops.

John C. Hirsh
Washington, Nov. 11, 2008

To the Editor:

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver says the recent United States bishops' voter guide ''didn't work'' and is in need of an overhaul. This is an interesting and possibly revelatory comment.

The guide, ''Faithful Citizenship,'' counsels Catholics to examine many issues with a special emphasis on abortion, and to make ''prudential judgments'' based on well-formed consciences.

On what evidence is the archbishop relying to determine that the guide ''didn't work'' and that Catholics did not, in fact, follow the guidance of the bishops?

A majority of Catholics supported President-elect Barack Obama. When he says the voter guide ''didn't work,'' I have to conclude that the archbishop thinks the only prudential judgment a well-formed Catholic conscience could have made was to vote for John McCain.

If the overhaul the archbishop wants goes through, I'd like to suggest a simple guide with none of the extraneous words like conscience and judgment. Just come out and say it -- Catholics must vote Republican.

Jack Marth
Bronx, Nov. 11, 2008

To the Editor:

As a Catholic American, I continue to be outraged by the silence from the pulpit with regard to the pope's determination that the war in Iraq is unjust, while weekly I'm assaulted with the mantra that it is my duty to support politicians who vote against a woman's right to choose abortion.

If the bishops want to establish some credibility, they need to speak about defending the lives of innocents born and unborn -- those who suffer and die from an American war as well as those who die in utero. Then, the choice pushed by the church between Republican and Democrat wouldn't be so clear, and Catholics would be trusted to deliberate, exercise free will and vote their consciences.